One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby,
candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her
both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was
quite, quite different.

When Liza's
brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The
spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too,
that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick,
Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There,
she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles,
greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But
she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers' nests, where she
encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests--or else her
soul, too, will remain Below forever.

Review:

I
will be the first to admit that while I can appreciate middle grade novels,
they’ve never really been something I was overly curious about. It wasn’t until
my 11-year-old cousin started asking me for book recommendations this summer
that I truly started considered reading and reviewing them. Before this, I
would constantly recommend books to her older sister (who was 19), but a lot of
those aren’t exactly something I wanted a kid to read. I decided to give Lauren
Oliver a go because I adored her YA novels, and I am so glad I did.

The Spindlers is a magical, fantastical tale
of a sister trying to save her brother. Liza is heroic and brave, but never to
the point where she doesn’t have her own doubts about things. And I just love
her older sister vibe. Being an older sister to a younger brother, I found
myself easily relating to Liza. I know my brother drove me insane, but the day
he got in a fight at school, I was immediately by his side helping in whatever
way I could. Oliver nailed the complex sibling dynamic.

Below
is a dark, shudder-inducing world that sparks the imagination. I loved how
Oliver took the time to truly build this world and make me feel like I was in
it with Liza. Even from the beginning, I was sucked into this story by the
attention to detail.

Oliver brings the same flare and elegance to
her middle grade novel that made her young adult ones best sellers. She has a
gift for weaving a story that I believe transcends age. Anyone can appreciate
this novel, and I loved being able to hand this book off to my young cousin
(who completely loved it).